Doing Business 2018 is the 15th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
... See More + This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Timor-Leste. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulation and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies; for 2018 Timor-Leste ranks 178. Doing Business measures aspects of regulation affecting 11 areas of the life of a business. Ten of these areas are included in this year’s ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation, which is not included in this year’s ranking. Data in Doing Business 2018 are current as of June 1, 2017. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms of business regulation have worked, where and why.
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This report presents the findings of nutrition assessment, gap analysis, and donor mapping exercise in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (RDTL).
... See More + Timor-Leste, though as a young and fragile state, has the preconditions for successful development. However, persistent high levels of malnutrition threaten to impede efforts to reduce poverty, capitalize on gains in human and skills development, increase productivity, and stimulate economic growth. Though progress has been in other areas of human development, malnutrition – particularly maternal and Child undernutrition – is the single greatest contributor to premature death and disability in the country and presents an unparalleled development challenge. In 2013, over half (50.2 percent) of all children under-five were stunted in their physical and cognitive development. Timor-Leste has the third highest stunting prevalence in the world, higher than all other g7+ countries and a significant outlier relative to its level of economic development. In 2013, nearly one in three (63.2 percent) children (6-59 months) and 2 in 5 women age 14-60 (39.5 percent) were anemic. Although the country is no longer in an emergency situation, the prevalence of wasting (11 percent) – an indicator of acute malnutrition and a prominent risk factor for child mortality – exceeds the WHO threshold for high public health significance, with emergency levels of wasting experienced in Covalima and Oecusse districts. Overweight prevalence is low relative to global averages, but has risen more than five-fold among adult women over the past decade. Though Timor-Leste does not yet suffer from the double burden of malnutrition, it will soon emerge if the problem continues unaddressed.
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This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Timor-Leste. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator.
... See More + Doing Business 2017 is the 14th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2016 Timor-Leste ranks 173. Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency, and labor market regulation. Doing Business 2017 presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where, and why. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2016 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January-December 2015).
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While the Timorese economy has shown signs of faster growth in recent years, and public spending has increased substantially, how the poor have fared through this period has remained largely unknown.
... See More + The successful conclusion of the third round of the Timor-Leste Survey of Living Standards (TLSLS-3) in April 2015 provides an opportunity to update our understanding of poverty and of many other economic and social conditions. This report provides a detailed assessment of the methodological approaches and headline poverty results from the Timor-Leste Survey of Living Standards 3. The survey is the third in a series of mutually comparable, detailed surveys to assess a wide range of aspects of living standards in Timor-Leste. This survey is the last in the series. It was conducted over a twelve month period from April 2014 to April 2015. This report focuses on providing key results from the TLSLS-3 and a detailed account of the survey methods.
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This report responds to a request from the Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) and Dr. Mari Alkatiri. The request was for World Bank assistance to collaborate on a range of studies relating to opportunities in the special economic zone, including community development, trade and competitiveness, and regional integration.
... See More + The analysis builds on a situation analysis prepared by the Zona Especial de Economia Social de Mercado (ZEESM) authority in March 2014. The transfer of significant responsibility for Oecusse’s development to the ZEESM authority, reflects a political rapprochement and collaboration between Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and Dr. Alkatiri. The report is in two volumes. Volume one presents an overview of Oecusse’s current state in chapter one with analysis of living standards, economic activity including trade, and current constraints. Chapter two analyzes Oecusse’s phased economic potential through a range of phase one development interventions focusing on agriculture, and considers the pre-requisites for developing an SEZ in Oecusse. Volume two contains more comprehensive background chapters with full analysis of living standards in chapter three, agriculture in chapter four, transport corridor in chapter five, and migration in chapter six.
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This report responds to a request from the Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) and Dr. Mari Alkatiri. The request was for World Bank assistance to collaborate on a range of studies relating to opportunities in the special economic zone, including community development, trade and competitiveness, and regional integration.
... See More + The analysis builds on a situation analysis prepared by the Zona Especial de Economia Social de Mercado (ZEESM) authority in March 2014. The transfer of significant responsibility for Oecusse’s development to the ZEESM authority, reflects a political rapprochement and collaboration between Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and Dr. Alkatiri. The report is in two volumes. Volume one presents an overview of Oecusse’s current state in chapter one with analysis of living standards, economic activity including trade, and current constraints. Chapter two analyzes Oecusse’s phased economic potential through a range of phase one development interventions focusing on agriculture, and considers the pre-requisites for developing an SEZ in Oecusse. Volume two contains more comprehensive background chapters with full analysis of living standards in chapter three, agriculture in chapter four, transport corridor in chapter five, and migration in chapter six.
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This report analyses equity and financial protection in the health sector of Timor-Leste. In particular, it examines inequalities in health outcomes, health behavior and health care utilization; benefit incidence analysis; financial protection; and the progressivity of health care financing.
... See More + Data are drawn from the 2009-2010 Demographic and Health Survey, the 2001-2002 and 2007-2008 Living Standards and Measurement Surveys as well as 2011-2012 Household Income Expenditure Survey, and the Ministry of Finance. All analyses are conducted using original data and performed using the health modules of the ADePT software.
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Timor-Leste has achieved significant improvements in the health sector since becoming independent a little over a decade ago. Timor-Leste is undergoing an epidemiology transition as the non-communicable disease burden increases, while infectious disease prevalence remains high.
... See More + The report aims to: (i) analyze trends in health sector public expenditures (budgets and realized expenditures); (ii) document trends in staffing and training, including their costs; (iii) understand the likely resource envelope available to the health sector over the next five years (from all sources); and (iv) provide options to adjust expenditures, to support key priorities, and improve the efficiency of existing expenditures to create space for key priorities. This report reviews the critical fiscal issues facing the health sector in the medium term, including the key areas demanding fiscal space, and the likely resource envelope from government and donors. The report analyzes past trends in health expenditures (by the government and donors), forecasts future resource availability, and examines implications for the Ministry of Health (MOH) to sustain delivery of quality health services. The report is organized as follows: chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two analyzes human resource development in health by discussing three scenarios for medium term health staff planning. Chapter three examines trends in government health spending by key expenditure areas and discusses the increasingly important role that government spending will play in the health sector. Chapter four analyzes the past trends in donor health financing in Timor-Leste. Chapter five concludes by reviewing four key areas (rising wage bill, pharmaceutical spending, overseas medical transfers, and declining donor spending) that are exerting pressure on health sector financing, and suggests policy recommendations based on the analysis detailed in this report.
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This economy profile for Doing Business 2016 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for Timor-Leste. To allow for useful comparison, the profile also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator.
... See More + Doing Business 2016 is the 13th edition in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2015 Timor-Leste ranks 173. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and over time. Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2015 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period from January to December 2014).
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This Country Data Report summarizes the data from the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project for Timor-Leste. The WGI report six aggregate governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996-2014, covering: i) voice and accountability, ii) political stability and absence of violence, terrorism, iii) government effectiveness, iv) regulatory quality, v) rule of law, and vi) control of corruption.
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The Omnibus baseline survey and process monitoring report contains the primary findings of the PNDS research and evaluation program. The report is divided into three parts: qualitative and quantitative baseline survey report: this part provides an overview of economic, institutional, and social characteristics of villages in which PNDS will be implemented, but prior to the implementation of PNDS.
... See More + In particular, the discussion summarizes the local economies, infrastructure, access to public services, public works project delivery, local governance, and conflict and conflict mediation practices. However, as data analyzed in this section was collected prior to the implementation of PNDS, the results reported per se do provide any basis for assessing the impacts of PNDS. Report on process monitoring of PNDS socialization, election, and prioritization process. This part presents the results of qualitative monitoring of the implementation of the socialization, elections, and prioritization stages of PNDS implementation in phase-three villages. The part reviews the adherence of observed practices to those outlined in PNDS program operations manual and provides recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the monitored stages. Common end matter: this part contains a list of references cited in parts one and two and the appendices for both sections of the report.
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This briefing note presents the key findings and policy implications of the health worker survey implemented in all thirteen districts of Timor-Leste in 2014.
... See More + The survey was administered to 443 health workers. The objectives of this study, conducted in 2014, were to understand (1) facility functionality; (2) health labour market dynamics among health workers, including the preferences, concerns and motivation of health workers; and (3) the skills and competence of doctors. The key findings were: (i) most of the health workers were intrinsically motivated; (ii) the majority of respondents would like to continue working in the government and public sector,however, most of them would eventually prefer to be posted in higher tier facilities; (iii) wage differentials within each cadre were relatively small, and income did not vary muchbased on years of experience, particularly for doctors; (iv) workload was not too high, especially in rural health facilities; (v) in-service trainings were inadequate especially in rural health facilities;and (vi) supervision were frequent. The following recommendations were based on the evidence gathered through this survey: (a) develop a long term HRH plan to manage the career development expectation of health workers, particularly for doctors; (b) ensure salary progression for doctors to provide an incentive to stay in public service asstaff gain experience; (c)provide necessary training for health workers, especially in rural areas; and (d) ensure more active and effective supervision of health workers.
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This briefing note presents the key findings and policy implications of a 2014 discrete choice experiment (DCE) conducted with 441 health workers, in all 13 districts of Timor-Leste.
... See More + The key findings were: (i) the “probability of specialisation” was the most important factor for medical doctors followed by visits from specialists, the availability of equipment, good housing, working in higher-level facilities and an urban location; (ii) newly graduated doctors were totally neutral toward wages; (iii) for nurses and midwives, in-service training was valued most highly, followed by transportation, equipment, a remote location and housing.The following recommendations were based on the findings from this experiment : (a) enhance in-house training and specialist visits for health workers based in rural areas; (b) increase non-financial benefits (training, supervision, housing etc.) to make rural jobs more attractive; (c) carry out further analysis of the DCE data to include modelling cost-effectiveness of various models.
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This briefing note presents the key findings and policy implications of the health facility survey implemented in 2014 in 69 sampled health facilities in Timor-Leste.
... See More + The key findings were: (i) hospitals are generally well equipped and Community Health Centres (CHC) were moderately equipped; (ii) general service provision was consistently low in rural Health Posts (HP) and was yet to comply with the Basic Service Package; (iii) drug supplies were inconsistent with the Essential Drug List. The following recommendations were based on the evidence gathered through this survey: (a) increase the functionality of rural health facilities in accordance with the Basic ServicePackage; (b) improve pharmaceutical procurement (demand driven) and distribution to ensure availabilityof medicines on the Essential Drug List; and (c) mobile phone technology should be more widely used for inventory monitoring and other communications.
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This briefing note presents the key findings and policy implications of the direct clinical observations (DCOs) and vignettes that were implemented as a part of the Health Worker Survey in Timor-Leste in 2014.
... See More + The field team observed 632 clinical consultations, including 442 DCOs and 190 vignettes. The key findings suggest that: (i) the overall clinical performance of general practitioners was good in terms of attitude andmoderate in regard to history taking, health education and treatment; (ii) however, the average physical examination performance score was considerably low compared to other areas; (iii) the factors that were significantly associated with the clinical performance of doctors were location of the health facility (urban doctors performed better) and consultation time (cases with more consultation time were better); (iv) lack of knowledge was significantly associated with non-performance, while lack of motivation and lack of facility functionality were statistically insignificant. The following recommendations were based on the findings: (a) better understand the training gap of doctors working in Timor-Leste; (b) improve the knowledge and performance of doctors working in rural health facilities byenhancing in-house trainings, providing effective working conditions and active supervision; (c) improve the functionalities of the facilities; and (d) ensure doctor’s compliance with clinical protocols.
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At the time of independence in 2002, Timor-Leste had a seriously weak health system with only a handful of doctors in the country. In this context, the governments of Timor-Leste signed an agreement and the Cuban Medical Brigade started to train medical students and deploy them in the country, particularly in rural areas.
... See More + While the initial massive shortage has now been minimized, there are concerns over more complex issues including facility functionality, rural retention, motivation, preferences and competence of health workers. The objectives of this survey were to understand the labor market dynamics among health workers, to learn more about the preferences and concerns of health workers, and to assess the skills, competence and motivation of doctors.
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Timor-Leste is vulnerable to natural hazards including floods, strong winds, landslides, earthquakes, and tsunamis. These hazards are common causing significant damages to the country.
... See More + There is a need to evaluate these natural hazards and associated risks. Forty-nine Sucos of the four districts (Ainaro, Aileu, Ermera, and Manufahi) of Timor-Leste, which intersect Dili-Ainaro-linked road corridor, were selected for the study. The study area faces mainly two types of floods - riverine flood and flash floods. The flood hazard analysis was carried out in the 49 selected Sucos to understand the frequencies, extent, and depth of flooding. Study reveals that Letefoho, Riheu, Poetete, Leolima, and Ainaro are the most flood affected Sucos while Acumau and Fahisoi are least affected Sucos. Areas under high wind speed zones in Ainaro district can be due to local topography and mountain ranges located in the surroundings. The analysis suggests that the areas where thick deposits of clayey soil and weathered rocks are present on gentle slopes, when combined with prolonged high rainfall, generally become unstable because of increase in pore water pressure.
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There is an inherent tension between traditional norms and survey protocols for quantitative data collected in the developing world. Unexpected interactions between the interviewer and respondent can lead to interviewer effects in the data, particularly in the case of subjective or sensitive questions.
... See More + This paper makes use of a unique data set available from Timor-Leste containing subjective and objective questions to study these effects. In addition to their age and gender, data were collected from the interviewers regarding their opinions on the subjective questions prior to fieldwork. Fixed effects and mixed effects logit models are used to examine the main effects and interactions between interviewer and respondent characteristics. More objective measures serve as a pseudo control group. The paper finds interviewer effects in the both subjective and objective data, but the magnitude is considerably stronger for subjective questions. The paper also finds that female respondents are more susceptible to influence based on the interviewer's beliefs. Despite methodological shortcomings, the study highlights the need to consider more fully the impact of traditional cultural norms when conducting quantitative surveys in the developing world on topics that are outside the standard objective questions.
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The Timor-Leste Government’s 2011-2013 strategic development plan (SDP) outlines its plan for achieving upper-middle income country status, with a secure, well-educated, and healthy population, by 2030.
... See More + It argues that the four key national attributes of political will, economic potential, national integration, and a dynamic population will underpin the achievement of this vision. The development of infrastructure is a core pillar of the SDP. Thus, the SDP outlines specific plans for a number of large construction projects for the development of roads and bridges, water and sanitation facilities, electrical power generation facilities, telecommunications, and ports. The SDP recognizes that Timor-Leste currently lacks the core infrastructure required to support a modern and productive economy. According to the SDP, government spending on infrastructure will drive high, double-digit rates of economic growth in the short and medium term, contributing to a rate of growth of 8 percent by 2020. The SDP also emphasizes the construction of infrastructure as a means to achieve its stated goals in the pillars of economic development, notably agriculture, and the development of social capital. The SDP commits the government to a significant school building program and to the expansion and rehabilitation of health facilities such as local clinics and hospitals.
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